Update on the "CD-Edition Staatsskapelle Dresden"

Documenting ”contemporary historical integrity”

The ”Edition Staatskapelle Dresden” launched in autumn 2005 is expanding in leaps and bounds. Volume 20, a breathtaking live concert recording of Berlioz's Requiem in Dresden's Kreuzkirche conducted by Sir Colin Davis, was launched at a Semperoper press discussion which took place in the opera house foyer on April 24, 2007.

Sir Colin Davis, who will be celebrating his eightieth birthday this year, was there in person and was presented with the very first CD. The CD samples necessary for such a press event had been delivered to the Dresden opera house only a few minutes earlier by overnight courier from the CD manufacturing plant.


(Picture: MDR / Robert Hensel)

Sir Colin Davis was happy to pose for photographs and to answer questions from the journalists present at the press launch. PROFIL Manager Günter Hänssler and MDR Figaro Head of Music Dr. Steffen Lieberwirth were also on hand to give details of future volumes of the ”Edition Staatskapelle Dresden”.



Caption: Sir Colin Davis talking to PROFIL Manager Günter Hänssler (left) and MDR Head of Music Dr. Steffen Lieberwirth (right)
(Picture: Staatsoper Dresden / Matthias Creutziger)

The Staatskapelle Dresden CD Series congratulates Sir Colin Davis

As Sir Colin Davis prepares to celebrate his eightieth birthday, let us take a retrospective look at his involvement with this CD series: The ”Edition Staatskapelle Dresden” began with his recording of Edward Elgar's Symphony No.1 (Vol. 1 - PH 05040), followed by the Mendelssohn Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5 (Vol. 4 - PH 05048), Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 2, combined with his ”En Saga” and ”Luonnotar” (Vol.5 - PH 5049). Volume 7 of the series featured Schubert's Great C Major Symphony (PH 06038), and this CD will now be distributed in a special edition to members of the European Parliament and their guests at a gala concert given by the Staatskapelle Dresden in Brussels to mark Germany's presidency of the EU council.

Volume 10 of the Edition (PH 06039) featured the Te Deum by Hector Berlioz and Mozart's Kyrie in D Minor, and now, hot off the presses, comes Vol. 20 (order no. PH 07014) with Berlioz's Requiem, a performance from February 1994 marking the anniversary of the Allied bombing of Dresden in World War II – a performance which Sir Colin Davis has always said was one of his most emotional concerts.

So far, Sir Colin Davis has recorded six CDs in the Staatskapelle Dresden series, a fact which is more than coincidence, indeed a tribute to a unique musical personality. The next release on the planning schedule is the choral symphonic oratorio, Michael Tippett's ”A Child of our Time”, featuring a recording from July 2003 conducted by Sir Colin which will be released in the autumn as a sort of birthday gift for his birthday on September 25.

The ensemble's historical memory

The first edited selections from concerts given by Giuseppe Sinopoli, who died suddenly in 2001, have been long and eagerly awaited and are now to be released. Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 and Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration (PH 07004) appear together as Vol. 17.

The release of the historic recordings of Kyrill Kondrashin conducting Shostakovich's 15th Symphony (PH 06065) and two unique opera productions attracted a great deal of attention.

The premiere release of Janácek's opera Katja Kabanova (PH 06040) was made possible by the discovery of a long-lost recording. Sadly, only weeks later this sensational radio archive recording, lovingly restored by Profil, had already become a victim of international music piracy.

The ”Opernwelt” magazine reports on this recording in its May issue: The Günter Hänssler label has, with its series of historic recordings with the Staatskapelle Dresden in which opera plays an important secondary role, set new standards and volumes 16 and 19 have proved to be a real treasure trove. (...) Lovingly and expertly edited by Hänssler, these CD recordings have far more than just collector's value, combining an authentic stage atmosphere with clear studio acoustics to produce a convincing performance, despite being sung in German rather than the original Czech.

Vol. 19 of the series features Karl Elmendorff's debut performance as a conductor in 1943. Selections from Antonín Dvorák's opera Der Jakobiner (PH 07031) document the first case of opera highlights being recorded for radio broadcast. The comprehensive booklet gives detailed background historical information about those dark days in which the recording was made. In its current issue, the music magazine ”Orpheus” writes: ... no-one should ignore this new release, since it documents a gripping phase of Dresden's operatic history, providing very comprehensive information in the booklet about the fate of KARL ELMENDORFF combined with a singularly clear recording ...

And ”Opernwelt” commented: The Dresden performance of the opera in 1943, excerpts of which were broadcast by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, is an interesting document in two respects due to the time it was made. Hänssler's excellent booklet featuring many pictures gives comprehensive background information on the conductor Karl Elmendorff (...)

In this way, it is clear that the Staatskapelle series is increasingly becoming something like ”the ensemble's historical memory”, as theatre director Professor Gerd Uecker once put it. In all this, documentation with ” contemporary historical integrity” is the most important aspect for us.

Support and co-operation from the public

Finally, we wish to give a brief interim report on the joint search initiated by the Staatskapelle and MDR FIGARO for historic sound recordings of Fritz Busch. TRIANGEL, MDR FIGARO's arts magazine and advertisements in daily programmes and on the Staatskapelle's internet portal took the search into the public domain by asking if any private individuals had copies of gramophone records featuring Fritz Busch, the opera director and principal conductor hounded out of Dresden in 1933.

The response was great and some gaps were filled thanks to fans of the Staatskapelle, readers of TRIANGEL and MDR FIGARO listeners as a result. The search is still on. By March 2008, to mark the 75th anniversary of the persecution of Fritz Busch and his departure from Dresden, it is hoped that all the Dresden recordings by the legendary conductor can be released as a special edition within this series.

Günter Wand Edition has won several prizes

The Günter Wand Edition has now won the German Record Critics' Prize for the third time. Wand's recordings of Anton Bruckner's 8th Symphony and Franz Schubert's 8th Symphony, released as a double CD on PH 06008, was feted as an ”artistically outstanding new release on the record market in the past quarter year”.

The other CDs in this series have constantly received euphoric reviews. Wand's recording of Bruckner's 5th Symphony (PH 06012) received five stars for musical quality in Stereoplay magazine: ”Everything here fits like a glove. With its overarching design, the recording from the Gasteig venue with the fantastic Munich Philharmonic sets an interpretatorial benchmark.” The Dutch music press had similar praise. ”Klassieke Zaaken” said that the recording was one of ”impressively beautiful sound quality.”

Profil in the press

In a review of new recordings of Schubert's great Lieder cycles the ”Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” reviewer Ulrich Schreiber picked out the new release of Franz Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin by Michael Schopper (PH 06063) for special praise: ”This reading deserves a special mention, because it does not follow the 'authentic' sores, instead adhering to the version edited in 1830 by the Viennese court opera baritone Johann Michael Vogl who was personally acquainted with Schubert.” The recording is based on historical performance practice and will come as a welcome addition to the collections of fans of Franz Schubert's song cycles.

- PROFIL MEDIEN GmbH -